Step-by-Step Guide: How to Use the AI SEO Tool Effectively (2026 Update)

Shanshan Yue

16 min read ·

Learn how to measure, optimize, and future-proof your website’s AI visibility — even if you’re not an SEO expert.

AI engines now summarize the web into one to three trustworthy citations. This guide shows you how to turn WebTrek’s Free AI SEO Tool into a repeatable workflow that keeps your brand inside those answers.

Key takeaways

  • AI visibility hinges on entities and structure, so schema fixes and answer-first writing matter more than keyword density.
  • Cross-functional workflows between marketing, development, design, and analytics keep AI SEO improvements shipping on schedule.
  • Quarterly audits and multi-engine testing confirm whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot can cite your pages.
Marketer studying WebTrek’s AI SEO Tool dashboard to improve schema, entities, and performance.

Why AI SEO Is Now the Core of Digital Visibility

The world of search is shifting faster than ever. In 2026, people no longer “Google” everything the same way. They ask AI. Platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot have turned search into a conversational experience, collapsing ten blue links into a single synthesized answer.

For a broader look at the forces reshaping discovery, read The Future of Search: How AI Engines Reshape Content Discovery; it sets the strategic backdrop for the workflow you are about to run.

Users type — or speak — prompts such as:

  • “What’s the best AI SEO tool to check my website?”
  • “How can I improve my site’s visibility in ChatGPT?”
  • “Why isn’t my brand showing in AI answers?”

If you want to appear inside that answer, you must teach AI engines who you are, what you cover, and why you are credible. This guide shows you exactly how to do that with WebTrek’s Free AI SEO Tool — the first no-login, free platform designed for AI visibility audits.

What Exactly Is an “AI SEO Tool”?

An AI SEO tool doesn’t just measure rankings or backlinks. It evaluates how understandable, reference-worthy, and structured your website appears to AI systems. WebTrek’s tool analyzes:

  • Entity clarity: who you are, what you do, and where you’re located.
  • Schema markup completeness: the JSON-LD your pages expose.
  • Readability for LLMs: the sentences, headings, and intent you use.
  • Structured Q&A and bullets: how answer-friendly your content feels.
  • Internal linking: signals that reinforce topical depth.

In short, AI SEO tools bridge human readability and machine comprehension so your pages can be summarized, cited, and trusted by AI engines.

The Importance of Entity Clarity

AI search engines operate by connecting entities, not just keywords. When your content clearly defines your organization, products, services, and topical expertise, models can build accurate relationships between your brand and the questions you answer.

That’s why the WebTrek tool focuses so heavily on structured data and entity clarity — because keyword density is no longer the ranking factor. “AI doesn’t crawl — it connects entities.”

Overview: What This Guide Covers

You’ll learn how to:

  1. Differentiate AI SEO tools from traditional SEO software.
  2. Use WebTrek’s Free AI SEO Tool step-by-step.
  3. Interpret every insight the report delivers.
  4. Fix schema, improve AI visibility, and boost entity clarity.
  5. Measure progress over time with a repeatable workflow.
  6. Combine free tools into a powerful AI SEO stack.
  7. Work from a checklist and quarterly audit plan.

This is a practical, data-driven playbook for marketers, developers, and content strategists.

Step 1: Start With the Tool (No Login Needed)

  1. Visit the website: Go to WebTrek’s Free AI SEO Tool. The interface stays intentionally simple so anyone can run an audit.
  2. Paste your URL: Enter the page you want to analyze — homepage, service page, blog article, or landing page.
  3. Click “Start Free Scan”: Within seconds you receive an AI SEO Report. No waiting list, no email form.

Step 2: Understanding the AI SEO Report

The report is divided into core sections that reflect how AI engines evaluate your page. Here’s what each one means.

Section 1: Content Clarity

This section checks how easily an AI system can understand and summarize your page. It reviews heading hierarchy, readability, intent alignment, conversational phrasing, and the use of bullets or short paragraphs.

Why it matters: Models like GPT-4, Gemini, and Claude parse structure to find answer-friendly segments. Dense or unstructured pages often get skipped.

Pro tip: Use “answer-first writing.” Start each section with the key takeaway, then add supportive detail. It improves both SEO snippets and AI summaries.

Section 2: Entity Recognition

The tool identifies all named entities on the page — company names, products, locations, people, and brands — and checks whether they’re represented in structured data.

If your organization appears only in body copy, AI may not associate your brand with the topic. Add Organization schema in JSON-LD, validate it, and rerun the audit.

Section 3: Schema Health

Schema is how you “talk” to AI systems. This section validates JSON-LD presence, schema types, syntax, and required fields such as author, headline, and dateModified.

Action: If you see red flags, fix schema first — it’s the foundation of AI SEO.

Section 4: Technical Health & Performance

The tool scans load time, mobile readiness, meta descriptions, canonical setup, and robots.txt accessibility. AI engines deprioritize slow or confusing pages.

Use PageSpeed Insights alongside the WebTrek report for deeper debugging.

Section 5: AI Visibility Score

Your overall AI readiness score (0–100) reflects how citation-ready the page is.

Range Meaning Action
90–100 Excellent Maintain schema, structure, and freshness.
70–89 Good Resolve minor schema or clarity gaps.
50–69 Fair Address missing entities and readability issues.
<50 Poor AI likely ignores or misrepresents the page — prioritize fixes.

The score weights schema health most heavily because LLMs rely on structure more than keywords.

Step 3: Fixing What the Report Finds

  1. Add or repair schema: Identify missing types, generate JSON-LD via Merkle’s Schema Generator, validate in Rich Results Test, and insert the script into your <head>.
  2. Simplify content: Rewrite dense paragraphs into FAQ-style Q&A. Prefer short sentences and subheadings that restate the core entity.
  3. Improve internal linking: Connect related pages like Why Keywords Still Matter — But Not the Way You Think or What Is GEO — Generative Engine Optimization to establish topical authority.

Step 4: Optimizing for AI Summaries

Generative engines favor structured, list-based, question-led content. Use these patterns to make your page AI-ready:

Format Why It Works Example
Q&A headings AI engines can quote direct answers. “What is AI SEO?”
Bullet points Easy to extract into summaries. “Key benefits: visibility, structure, trust.”
Short sentences Improves summarization accuracy. Keep sentences under 20 words.
Numbered steps Communicates sequence clearly. “Step 1: Run audit → Step 2: Fix schema.”
Entity mentions Reinforces topical authority. Reference your brand and product naturally.

Step 5: Test AI Visibility Across Multiple Engines

Once you optimize, verify how AI platforms perceive your site. Capture screenshots or notes each quarter.

Platform How to Test Expected Output
ChatGPT Ask “According to which websites, what is [topic]?” Look for your domain in the explanation.
Gemini Use Labs → AI Overviews for your niche. Check the citation list for your page.
Perplexity Query your topic with “sources mode.” Confirm your brand appears in references.
Bing Copilot Search from the Edge sidebar. See if Copilot mentions your brand.
WebTrek tool Re-run the AI SEO report. Validate improvements in your score.

Step 6: Build a Workflow Between Marketers and Developers

AI SEO is cross-functional. Align responsibilities so optimizations stick.

Team Focus Tasks
Marketing Content clarity & intent Refine copy, headings, and Q&A sections.
Developers Schema & performance Add structured data, optimize Core Web Vitals, fix canonicals.
Design User experience Ensure headings, FAQs, and tables remain scannable.
Analytics Reporting Track scores, AI citations, and engagement metrics.

Create a shared dashboard or spreadsheet logging URLs audited, scores, fix actions, owners, and due dates. For broader context on staffing and priorities, revisit How AI Search & LLMs Are Changing SEO in 2026 to align stakeholders around evolving GEO signals.

Step 7: Re-Audit and Track Progress Quarterly

  1. Re-run WebTrek’s AI SEO Tool on priority pages every quarter.
  2. Record the scores, changes, and fixes in your log.
  3. Compare before-and-after results to prove impact.

A consistent upward trend signals better AI visibility and stronger structured data hygiene.

Step 8: Combine Other Free Tools With WebTrek

Stack WebTrek with complementary free tools for a complete AI SEO workflow.

Tool Use Case Link
WebTrek Free AI SEO Tool Full AI visibility audit webtrek.io/tools/ai-seo-tool
Google Rich Results Test Schema validation search.google.com/test/rich-results
Merkle Schema Generator Create schema quickly technicalseo.com/tools/schema-markup-generator
Glasp AI Summary Plugin Preview what AI extracts glasp.co
AlsoAsked.com Discover user questions alsoasked.com
PageSpeed Insights Optimize performance pagespeed.web.dev
SEO Minion On-page checks Chrome Web Store
Bing Copilot & Gemini Check AI citations Use their respective AI search experiences.

Step 9: Create FAQ and HowTo Sections for Every Page

Adding FAQ schema boosts both SERP snippets and AI comprehension. Example:

Q1: What is an AI SEO Tool?
It checks how visible your website is across AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Bing Copilot.

Q2: Is the WebTrek AI SEO Tool free?
Yes. It’s 100% free and requires no login.

Mark this section with FAQPage schema. WebTrek will pick it up instantly and reflect improvements in your next audit.

Step 10: Measure Success Beyond Rankings

Traditional SEO tracks rankings and click-through rates. AI SEO focuses on mentions, visibility, and trust signals. Monitor:

  • Frequency of brand citations in AI summaries.
  • Improvements in WebTrek AI SEO Tool scores.
  • Growth in long-tail impressions inside Google Search Console.
  • Engagement metrics like time on page and scroll depth.

Over time your domain becomes the trusted source AI engines prefer to quote.

Example: How a Small Business Improved Its AI Visibility

A boutique fitness studio started with a 54/100 score. After adding FAQ schema and rewriting intros in Q&A format, the page scored 91/100.

  • Featured in Gemini AI Overviews within 60 days.
  • 42% higher average time on page.
  • 2× leads from organic traffic.

That’s the compounding power of AI SEO.

Developer-Focused Tips

  1. Add schema server-side to avoid lazy-load issues.
  2. Use semantic HTML elements such as <article> and <section>.
  3. Keep <title> and <meta name="description"> consistent across pages.
  4. Maintain clean canonical URLs and fresh sitemaps.
  5. Apply 301 redirects for duplicates.
  6. Use Open Graph tags so AI and social previews align.

AI systems like Perplexity and Gemini often combine OG and schema data when forming answers.

Content-Marketer Tips

  1. Write in an explainer tone: simple, confident, and instructional.
  2. Lead with a question or problem statement.
  3. Use bold text and bullets to highlight answers.
  4. Conclude with a summary paragraph that repeats your main entity.
  5. Reuse headings like “What,” “Why,” “How,” and “When” to feed AI snippet generation.

Advanced Optimization: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

If you’re ready to move beyond fundamentals, explore GEO — Generative Engine Optimization. It’s all about designing content that LLMs can easily understand, summarize, and trust. Pair this guide with our article What Is GEO — Generative Engine Optimization and the Best Free AI SEO Tools roundup to future-proof your strategy.

📅 Quarterly AI SEO Audit Template

Quarter Task Owner Tools Status
Q1 Full audit SEO Manager WebTrek Completed
Q1 Schema validation Developer Merkle + Rich Results Completed
Q2 Content rewrite Content Team ChatGPT + Glasp In progress
Q3 Speed optimization DevOps PageSpeed Insights In progress
Q4 AI visibility recheck SEO Gemini + Copilot Planned

Future-Proofing: AI SEO for 2027 and Beyond

  1. Structure beats fluff: Schema and entity clarity will only grow in importance.
  2. Authority compounds: The more AI cites you, the more it continues to cite you.
  3. Freshness wins: Updating titles and timestamps keeps you inside AI training windows.

Final Thoughts

If your goal is to stay visible in the age of generative AI, you have to think like the AI. That starts with auditing your site using WebTrek’s Free AI SEO Tool — your entry point into structured, entity-rich, AI-ready content.

To recap:

  • Audit every major page quarterly.
  • Fix schema and entity gaps immediately.
  • Re-test on AI engines and track visibility over time.
  • Update content yearly for freshness.

Ranking is the past. Referencing is the future. Now it’s your turn to become the source AI engines trust.